As used in the following disclosure, the term “infusion” is meant to refer to the transfer of flavor(s) and/or aroma(s) from a selected ingredient(s) to a draft-supplied or other non-draft supplied beverage as a result of the communication between the beverage and the selected ingredient(s). In general, terms such as “coupled to,” and “configured for coupling to,” and “secured to,” and “configured for securing to” and “in communication with” (for example, a first component is “coupled to” or “is configured for coupling to” or is “configured for securing to” or is “in communication with” a second component) are used herein to indicate a structural, functional, mechanical, electrical, signal, optical, magnetic, electromagnetic, ionic or fluidic relationship between two or more components or elements. As such, the fact that one component is said to be in communication with a second component is not intended to exclude the possibility that additional components may be present between, and/or operatively associated or engaged with, the first and second components.
Infusing beverages (such as beer, wine, cider, coffee, or liquor) with selected flavors at the point of dispensing the beverages allows for flavor variations selected by consumers. Depending on the selected infusion ingredients, an essentially unlimited number of infused flavors for the beverage is possible.
However, existing methods for infusing such beverages do not effectively allow for keeping such beverages cool during the infusion process. In addition, existing methods of infusion do not effectively maintain the pressure of the beverage during the infusion process, thus causing deficiencies in the quality of the infused beverage prior to consumption. For example, in the case of draft-supplied carbonated beverages, loss of pressure might result in the loss of carbonation.
What is needed, therefore, is a system that addresses the concerns above.